El Clasico: Barcelona Vs Real Madrid Super Cup : Match Preview

23 Aug 2012 11:28:18

Barcelona host rivals Real Madrid in the first El Clasico of the new season and tensions and expectations are always high in this encounter.

New Barcelona coach Tito Vilanova and Jose Mourinho are no strangers to each other after last seasons eye gouging incident and the new Barca boss will be looking to get his team off to a flying start and back to their winning ways.

Barca new boy Alex Song could go straight into the team after completing his transfer from Arsenal.

David Villa is set to be named on the bench, after a lengthly eight-month injury lay-off and Alexis Sanchez, Andres Iniesta and Gerard Pique are all pushing for starts.

Thiago Alcantara is the only injury in the Barcelona team as he continues his recovery from a tibia injury.

Real Madrid look certain to be without Pepe after suffering a nasty head injury while colliding with Iker Casillas during Sunday's 1-1 draw with Valencia.

Raul Albiol is expected to take up the reigns for the Portugal international, while Olympic star Marcelo, Sami Khedira and Karim Benzema are all hoping to earn recalls to the starting XI.